Loathe Thy Neighbor
In Loathe Thy Neighbor, a ghost is pestering the Micawbs, a family stranger than many of the busted spirits now residing in the Containment Unit. However this case proves incredibly tough for the Ghostbusters as they are kept busy sorting the weird from the paranormal!Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 27. CPT Holdings, Inc. Cast Peter Venkman Ray Stantz Egon Spengler Winston Zeddemore Slimer Creegor Micawb's Maid Bello Micawb Lucretia Micawb Thaddeus Micawb Patchwork Lydia Micawb Book Chompers Gargoyle The Basement Entity Micawb's Relatives Equipment Ecto-1 Proton Pack Particle Thrower Trap P.K.E. Meter Golden Grimbor Ghost Sniffer Nameless Horrors and What To Do About Them Locations Micawb Mansion Plot A strange family asked the Ghostbusters to get rid of a ghost in their house. After they arrived, only Ray was eager to explore the house. Peter pressed the doorbell and everyone was caught off guard when it shrieked. A hunchbacked butler answered and invited them inside. Egon is scared by the maid when she crept up behind him and suddenly asked to take the guy's coats. Mr. Micawb greeted the guys and offered them worm wort tea. Ray stepped forward, shook his hand, and they walked to the dining hall. The others hesitantly followed. Slimer, meanwhile, got surprised by a painting when it morphed its appearances. Once Micawb tried to reheat the tea, the kettle burned a hole through the table and fell down. Nonchalant, Micawb offered them warm yak milk which they declined. Lucretia Micawb, or Mrs. Micawb, came down the stairs and met with the Ghostbusters. She explained she was busy with spring cleaning for a family reunion. Her duster came to life and dusted both Egon and Slimer. Slimer sneezed and landed on another painting which shoved him away in disgust. Egon asked the couple to explain their problem. As they started to describe the haunting, their son Thaddeus claimed there was no problem at all. Thaddeus then introduced his pet dog, Patchwork, whom he made himself. Patchwork seemed friendly enough as he shook hands with and licked Slimer. The Micawbs' daughter, Lydia, appeared and announced she finished cleaning the northwest wing. Unlike the others, Lydia looked like a normal person. The guys rushed over the greet her... Mr. Micawb asked Lydia to show the Ghostbusters around and continued with his explanation. The family tried to get rid of the ghost themselves with no success. However, they never saw it and only heard it. A strange sound was heard but it was just a cuckoo clock. The ghost was heard next and the mansion shook. Since the relatives were set to arrive in the morning, the Micawbs asked the guys to stay the night, when the ghost seemed most active. The guys got into a huddle to make a decision. Only, Ray was on board with staying the night. Just as Peter was to tell Micawb they were turning down the job, Micawb added they would pay whatever the guys charged. Everyone perked up and agreed to take the case. As Egon took readings in the ballroom, a chandelier became loose and fell. Peter tackled Egon out of the way just in time. Lydia scolded Thaddeus but he claimed he was innocent. Winston voiced his suspicion of Thaddeus. Next, Lydia took the guys to a study that contained over 3000 books, some of which were 100's of years old. Egon confirmed the presence of rising supernatural activity and the readings were still strange and something he never saw before. Several books started levitating and mouths lined with sharp teeth formed. Everyone hid under a table as Lydia explained the ghost did animated the books before. While Egon noted the ghost must be an extremely powerful force, Peter prepared to open fire. Ray stopped him and read aloud a spell from the Golden Grimbor. The spell worked and the books returned to normal. Egon then suggested the team split up to cover more ground. A gargoyle attacked Peter but Winston reacted quickly and disintegrated it with his thrower. Mr. Micawb peeked into the room and announced dinner was ready. The guys are grossed out by the first course, Spider Hair Fondue and even more disgusted by the second, Ancient Tree Mold smothered in a spicy Bat Breath Sauce. Slimer ate his portion without any hesitation. Egon saved some for his collection. The guys offered their portions to Slimer. The Micawbs watched in silence as Slimer gorged on the tree mold. As the guys stuttered out of the dining hall, they accidentally set off the mansion's security system. Creegor, the butler, showed the guys to their room. Thaddeus jumped into the room wearing a glowing blanket. They weren't impressed by the prank and sent him out. Thaddeus departed with Patchwork, who was chewing on one of Ecto-1's tires. Egon was still stumped by the strange readings but perked up when Ray suggested the ghost was actually a paranatural being. On cue, they explained to Peter what the difference between a supernatural and paranatural being. They soon heard another strange sound. This time, it was a vacuum cleaner. It looked at Slimer and sucked him up. Winston switched off the cleaner off and Slimer was freed. Lydia scolded the vacuum cleaner and told it to go look for Lucretia. Back on the case, they followed the readings to a room and searched for a trigger to get to a secret passageway. As Ray looked at an out of print copy of "Namesless Horrors and What To Do About Them," he whistled and Peter was ushered into the secret passage. Ray tried to whistle again but Patchwork ran in and licked them all. Lydia whistled and successfully triggered the secret passage. They followed the path past resonance growth and arrived at another door. However, it was locked. As they prepared to blast it, Thaddeus implored them to stop. He confessed that while he was trying to create a playmate for Patchwork, he accidentally opened a doorway to another dimension. Patchwork scratched the door and the Paranatural being's tentacles burst through the door. The guys blasted at it and marched into the room. The being was nestled in an abyss. Winston shined a light on it and the being grabbed Slimer. The guys made sure to blast only the tentacle and saved Slimer. Winston got grabbed and was almost eaten himself. As the guys ran out of room, the situation looked hopeless. Egon pointed out it could only absorb so much energy. He instructed everyone to keep shooting it at full stream. Peter inquired what was going to happen next. Egon quickly answered the being would explode in five seconds. Without pause, the guys ran for it. The being exploded then vanished back down the abyss. The Ghostbusters returned to the front of the mansion and gave the Micawbs the good news. The relatives all arrived and one greeted the Ghostbusters. The maid offered the guys some hors d'oeuvres but Slimer ate them all. The Ghostbusters admonished Slimer. Trivia *The episode was recorded on June 1, 1987.Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987). *The Micawb family incorporates elements of The Addams Family and The Munsters: **A family of benign monster/horror characters. **Bello and Lucretia Micawb resemble Gomez and Morticia Addams. **Lydia Micawb resembles Marilyn Munster as the normal looking member of the family. *The doorbell's was a shriek, possibly an homage to the variant sounds used to summon Lurch on The Addams Family. *Lewis Arquette makes an uncredited cameo as the voice of Bello Micawb.Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 27. CPT Holdings, Inc. *Mrs. Micawb mentions the family is in the midst of spring cleaning, implying this bust takes place sometime in March or April.Lucretia Micawb (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 03:39-03:45). Time Life Entertainment. Lucretia says: "Please forgive the mess but we're in the midst of spring cleaning in preparation for a family reunion." *Peter references Shea Stadium, home of Major League Baseball team, the New York Mets, when the Ghostbusters check out the ballroom.Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 06:23-06:24). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Nice. Kinda reminds me of Shea Stadium." *Peter mentions his mother while commenting on the Spider Hair Fondue.Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:30-09:31). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Just like mom used to make." *Egon mentions his collection of spores, molds, and fungi while collecting some tree mold for it.Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 10:09-10:12). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "I'm saving this for my collection of spores, molds, and fungi." *Peter has at least one filling but lost it during dessert.Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 10:34-10:36). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "I think I lost a filling in one of the antlers." *Peter mentions Frankenstein's Bride when the team settles in their room.Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:52-11:54). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Frankenstein's Bride wouldn't sleep here." *Interestingly the terms Supernatural and Paranatural mean different things. Supernatural means something that was once human like a ghost, while Paranatural means a being completely alien life not from our world. This was brought up during the episode in describing what they are looking for. Apparently for this case they were looking for a Paranatural, as most things in the house were Supernatural and deemed not the threat by their clients.Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 13:37-13:40). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Supernatural means something that was once human. Like a ghost."Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loathe Thy Neighbor" (1987) (DVD ts. 13:42-13:44). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "And a Paranatural Being is totally alien. Not life as we know it." *Copies of the "Golden Grimbor" and "Nameless Horrors and What To Do About Them" are in the Micawb study and the room that led to the Paranatural Being. *Janine doesn't appear in this episode, which is the only episode of season 3 that Janine is not shown in. Animation Errors *At the 16:30 mark, there are two Egon's and Peter is missing for a few seconds. 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